The acclaimed actor, Kevin Spacey, will be presented with a Special Award at the Olivier Awards 2015with MasterCardceremony on Sunday 12 April at London’s Royal Opera House. The award will acknowledge the actor, director and producer’s extraordinary contribution to The Old Vic and to British theatre.

Kevin Spacey revived the fortunes and reputation of The Old Vic when he became Artistic Director in 2004 and, as an actor, has delighted audiences on The Old Vic stage and around the world. Through his inspirational leadership, he has placed The Old Vic back at the heart of London theatre and secured its reputation on the international stage. His commitment to Old Vic New Voices, The Old Vic’s mentoring programme for emerging talent, and The Old Vic’s education and community work, has made a significant impact on the lives of 100,000 young people and local residents in one of London’s most deprived boroughs.

Kevin Spacey steps down as Artistic Director of The Old Vic in autumn 2015 and is succeeded by Matthew Warchus.

Caro Newling, President of the Society of London Theatre, said: “The Society of London Theatre is delighted to formally acknowledge Kevin Spacey’s outstanding contribution to The Old Vic. In general his advocacy of London theatre has been a constant boon, and many of us will miss him as a valued colleague“.

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Established in 1976, the Olivier Awards celebrate the world class status of London theatre and are Britain’s most prestigious stage honours. For further information please visit www.olivierawards.com

The Olivier Awards 2015 with MasterCard, the most prestigious event in the UK’s theatrical calendar, will be held on Sunday 12 April at the Royal Opera House and broadcast on ITV as a highlights package later that evening.

The full list of nominations for the Olivier Awards 2015 will be announced at 12 noon on Monday 9 March at Rosewood London.

Society of London Theatre (SOLT) is the not-for-profit organisation which provides a collective voice for the theatre owners, producers and managers of all the major commercial and grant-aided theatres across London. As well as protecting the interests of all its member theatres, SOLT promotes theatregoing through activities including the Olivier Awards with MasterCard, the TKTS ticket booth, the Official London Theatre website and its printed fortnightly listings guide, Theatre Tokens and the popular annual celebration West End LIVE in association with MasterCard. It also administers the audience development initiatives Kids Week and Get Into London Theatre, and supports a number of theatrical charities including Stage One and Mousetrap Theatre Projects.

Kevin Spacey will complete his tenure as Artistic Director at The Old Vic this year, having begun in 2004. He will complete his final performance whilst Artistic Director, reviving his title role in Clarence Darrow, his first one-man play and performance in the round. He has also appeared across the past 10 seasons in The Old Vic’s productions of National Anthems, The Philadelphia Story, Richard II, A Moon For The Misbegotten (also on Broadway), Speed-The-Plow, Inherit The Wind and Sam Mendes’ production of Richard III, which toured internationally and completed its run at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York.

Previous theatre credits include The Iceman Cometh (Almeida/Old Vic/Broadway), for which he received the Evening Standard and Olivier Awards for Best Actor, Lost In Yonkers (Broadway), for which he received a Tony Award, and Long Day’s Journey Into Night, with Jack Lemmon (Broadway/West End).

As Artistic Director of The Old Vic Theatre Company, Spacey oversaw the seasons of work, as well as the award winning talent development programs (Old Vic New Voices), creative learning and community engagement department. In 2010 he was honoured with a CBE from HM the Queen for services to the theatre.

Film work includes The Usual Suspects, for which he received an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, Swimming With Sharks, Seven, American Beauty, for which he received an Oscar for Best Actor, LA Confidential, Glengarry Glen Ross, Casino Jack, Horrible Bosses and Margin Call. He is currently starring as Frank Underwood in the Washington, DC-based series, House Of Cards, the third season of which has just premiered on Netflix. For his performance he has won the Golden Globe for Best Actor and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series. Spacey’s production company Trigger Street produces the series and has produced the Emmy Award-winning Best Film Recount (HBO), as well as the feature films 21, The Social Network and Captain Phillips – all for Sony Pictures. He most recently played President Richard Nixon opposite Michael Shannon as Elvis Presley in the independent feature film Elvis & Nixon.

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